There were two weeks leading up until the wedding and most of the details were sorted by both River and Hayze's mothers, most of which River knew nothing about.

Hayze and his father apparently had been covering most of the expenses. Hayze had told River that when she had finally found a dress that she liked, he'd send some money over for her to purchase it.

River felt slightly left out because the only thing she had to do was search for a dress. She decided that she would secretly go shopping for a ring for Hayze, even though she didn't truly know him. She didn't even know his ring size but she was determined to do something. She would find a way.

Hayze had not made any further contact with her after telling her that he'd pay for her wedding dress over the phone. She didn't even have his number. He had gotten in touch with her through her fathers phone. It bothered her slightly that they were getting married but he hadn't even bothered to get to know her.

She hadn't seen or heard from him in almost three weeks. And she should have been happy because he was giving her more time to spend with Nico. But she was a little upset. She didn't want to be getting married as strangers. She wanted to know at least a little about the mysterious man she was marrying.

River suddenly felt very alone. As she thought over the facts that her parents were always working or preparing for the wedding, she didn't have any friends to talk to and she couldn't even talk to Nico about her situation the lonliness settled into her mind.

There were nights where she cried herself to sleep quietly with a pillow to her mouth so no one would hear. Then, she'd cry harder when she realized there was no one around to hear her; to comfort her even.

On other days, she just told herself to suck it up and go on with her life. She wanted to act like she wasn't getting married in two weeks.

At school, teachers had confronted her about one their 'favorite students' not focusing well. They asked things like if there was something going on at home that she wanted to talk about and she'd just shake her head 'no' and then she'd slip away. Really, she should have taken the chance to go the councilors but on the other hand she didn't want to go around spreading her business, so she kept her mouth shut. But keeping quiet was one of things she shouldn't have done. It was a bad habit now and it came so easy to her. Being silent wouldn't keep her out of trouble. Not in the future anyway.

When the time came for River to go shopping, her mom and Kacie accompanied her to the shopping plaza.

River said she didn't want her dress to be super expensive even though Hayze himself had said that there was no price limit as long as she got the dress she liked.

River only wanted a pretty yet simple dress. She didn't want it to be expensive, especially because she was only going to wear this dress once.

After about an hour and twenty minutes of shopping, River found a beautiful, fairly priced dress. It had a lace, off the shoulder neckline with lace sleeves. It also had a silky wrap around the waist and then it flared out elegantly toward her hips.

As soon as Lianne caught sight of her daughter in the white dress, she burst into tears and Kacie gushed over how beautiful River looked and how lucky her son was. River just stood in front of the mirror and stared blankly at herself, the guilt pulsing through her blood.

How could she do this to Nico?

Once River purchased the dress she made an excuse to meet up with her mother and Kacie at a burger place later on so she could go and secretly search for a ring. She had no idea why she was buying him a ring. She was told that neither of them had to bother buying eachother rings because they hadn't really gotten to know eachother.

To River, it felt wrong not to at least search for a ring herself and whether she wanted to admit it or not, she wanted him to not be cold to her. She hated when people were angry with her. She absolutely despised the feeling.

As soon as River got to the jewelry store, she immediately began searching for a unique ring. She didn't want anything boring or something that you'd see on five other peoples fingers.

"Hi! Can i help you with anything?" One of the jewlers asked as she scanned over a few rings in a glass desk.

"Umm, do you have any navy blue or black rings for men?" River asked quietly. "Actually. Can i get one custom made here?"

"Yeah, of course. You can just tell me how you want it made and and we'll get it done."

"Okay." She thought about it for a second, picturing it in her mind. "I'd like the ring to be black with one single gold strip going around it. Oh and also if you can, can you add the initials H. S on the inside of the ring. I want it to be subtle though."

(

"Nice. Do you know what size it should be?"

River thought back to some plans she saw on her dads desk that had their finger sizes on it.

"Yeah, size twelve i think. Its a wedding ring and i want all the materials used to be 100% real."

"Yeah, of course. I'll just take your number so we can call you when its finished."

River gave the lady her number and then made her way back to her mom and Kacie. They questioned her on where she'd been but River just kept quiet. After a while they stopped bothering her because she was obviously not in the mood to talk. All three of them just focused on their lunch until they finished eating.

"I know you're scared River. But my boy's a gentleman and i know he'll treat you well and if he doesn't you come tell me and i'll set him straight."

River smiled slightly. "Thanks Mrs. Sykes."

"No no dear. Im your soon to be mother in law. You will call me Kacie."

"Okay Kacie."

°•○●○•°

River got Vince to drop her off at the shopping plaza three days later so she could pick up the ring from the jelwery shop. Once she got a look at it she couldn't hold back the smile from creeping into her face. It was almost identical to what she imagined. It was heavy and shiny and the gold accent shimmered slightly under the light.

River thanked the lady and payed before exiting the shop, all while carefully placing the ring box in the padded area of her backpack. As she was zipping up her bag, someone familiar caught her eye. She stumbled back slightly in surprise and also, for some strange reason, slight fear.

There stood her boyfriend and his good friend Kevin, leaning up against the side of an icecream parlor. As if he felt her stare on him, he turned his head in the middle of his conversation and locked eyes with her. She was frozen in place and her legs suddenly felt like they'd give out at the thought of the wedding ring in her backpack.

Nico smirked at her and motioned for her to come to him with his fingers. She immediately began shuffling over to him and then came to a stop a foot away from him and Kevin. As his eyes raked over her, she shuffled around nervously on her feet.

"Hey babe. What are you doing out here after school in your cute little uniform?" He asked pleasantly with a raised eyebrow.

"The house was empty so i just decided i'd come h-here to look around for a bit." She was really hoping she sounded beleivable enough.

"Oh, well do you want to hang with me and Kevin?"

She looked into his eyes and almost melted at the sight of hope in his eyes. She was still trying to get over the fact that he wasn't mad at her for being so distant. She'd been texting him but she hadn't been with him in person. She was a little confused on why she didn't feel the tension.

"Um, sure," she said with a small hesitant smile.

"Great," he said with a grin and he pulled her into his side roughly. She winced slightly at the grip he had around her waist but then quickly froze when she saw a little girl walk past with a tall cone of mixed soft serve icecream with rainbow sprinkles.

River tried to get Nico's attention but he was busy talking to Kevin as he tugged her along so instead she opted for tugging on his shirt multiple times. When he finally began feeling the tugs he roughly pulled away from her.

"You know i hate when you don't use your words, thats childish crap! What is it?" He growled.

"Can we get icecream please?" She asked quietly.

"No! What are you, ten? And besides, you don't need to be putting on an unnescary weight."

River tried to hide her dissapointment as he pulled her along to the other side of the shopping plaza. It had been a while since she had had any type of dessert or treat.

Nico had told her almost two months ago that if she was good he'd get her something nice. And sure, the way he told her that made her feel like an incapable child, but she would still be getting something nice. She hadn't gotten anything yet and even though she wasn't materialistic she was hoping he would at least take her somewhere fun.

She thought she had been good but he didn't seem to think so. A simple kiss on the forehead and a 'good job' would have satisfied the craving for love that she had no idea that she was lacking.

"What did you buy today?" Kevin asked with a smirk as he tried to get into her backpack.

She quickly pulled away, her heart beating wildly in her chest. She couldn't let Nico find out that she was getting married behind his back through the ring. She had to tell him through her words.

Nico looked her suspiciously. "What you got in that bag of yours, huh?"

Her eyes fluttered up to look at him and she fidgeted with the multiple squishies hanging off her bag for decoration. He tugged her around to open the bag and she panicked.

"Wait!"

He grunted as she jumped away from him. He angrily pulled her back in place which gave her whiplash but she continued to squirm around under his tight hold.

"What are you hiding? I'm sure you don't want to be taught a lesson for this too," he warned.

Immediately tears sprung to her eyes. "Please stop! I-i don't want you to see my... pads. I don't need to be taught a lesson, i'll be good."

Kevin laughed loudly and Nico scoffed in disgust. "Gross."

Good thing he's afraid of periods